Minimum wage

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Economic Policy / Labor Law

• Primary Goal

  Prevent worker exploitation and support lower-income families

• US Federal Rate

  $7.25 per hour

• Implementation Methods

  Direct legislation, formula-based adjustments (CPI-indexing), and wage boards

• Circumvention Strategies

  Gig worker employment, labor relocation, and task automation

• Highest Global Hourly Rate

  $18.12 (Australia)

Timeline

• New Zealand passes the first modern national laws enforcing compulsory minimum wages. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1894-01-01

• The United States introduces the federal minimum wage at $0.25 per hour through the Fair Labor Standards Act. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1938-06-25

• The US federal minimum wage reaches its historical peak in real value (purchasing power) at $1.60 per hour. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1968-02-01

• The US federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 per hour, where it has remained constant through 2024. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2009-07-24

• Seattle, Washington becomes the first US city to enact a local ordinance phasing in a $15.00 per hour minimum wage. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2014-06-02

• San Francisco becomes the first major US city to reach a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2018-07-01

• California's state minimum wage is scheduled to reach $16.50 per hour. (Source: California Department of Industrial Relations)

  2025-01-01

• The United Kingdom's national minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over is set to reach £12.21 per hour. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2025-04-01

Minimum wage

A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Because minimum wages increase the cost of labor, companies often try to avoid minimum wage laws by using gig workers, by moving labor to locations with lower or nonexistent minimum wages, or by automating job functions. Minimum wage policies can vary significantly between countries or even within a country, with different regions, sectors, or age groups having their own minimum wage rates. These variations are often influenced by factors such as the cost of living, regional economic conditions, and industry-specific factors. The movement for minimum wages was first motivated as a way to stop the exploitation of workers in sweatshops, by employers who were thought to have unfair bargaining power over them. Over time, minimum wages came to be seen as a way to help lower-income families. Modern national laws enforcing compulsory union membership which prescribed minimum wages for their members were first passed in New Zealand in 1894. Although minimum wage laws are now in effect in many jurisdictions, differences of opinion exist about the benefits and drawbacks of a minimum wage. Additionally, minimum wage policies can be implemented through various methods, such as directly legislating specific wage rates, setting a formula that adjusts the minimum wage based on economic indicators, or having wage boards that determine minimum wages in consultation with representatives from employers, employees, and the government. Supply and demand models suggest that there may be employment losses from minimum wages; however, minimum wages can increase the efficiency of the labor market and employment in monopsony scenarios, where individual employers have a degree of wage-setting power over the market as a whole. Supporters of the minimum wage say it increases the standard of living of workers, reduces poverty, reduces inequality, and boosts morale. In contrast, opponents of the minimum wage say it increases poverty and unemployment because some low-wage workers "will be unable to find work ... [and] will be pushed into the ranks of the unemployed".

Web Search Results

• Minimum wage in the United States - Wikipedia

  The federal minimum wage was introduced in 1938 at the rate of 25¢ per hour (equivalent to $5.19 in 2022).( By 1950 the minimum wage had risen to 75¢ per hour.( The purchasing power of the federal minimum wage has fluctuated; it was highest in February 1968, when it was $1.60 per hour.( The real value of the federal minimum wage in 2022 dollars has decreased by 46% since its inflation-adjusted peak in February 1968. The minimum wage would be $13.46 in 2022 dollars if its real value had remained at the 1968 level.( See chart to right. From January 1981 to April 1990, the minimum wage was frozen at $3.35 per hour, then a record-setting minimum wage freeze. From September 1, 1997, through July 23, 2007, the federal minimum wage remained constant at $5.15 per hour, breaking the old record. On [...] In April 2014, the U.S. Senate debated the minimum wage on the federal level by way of the Minimum Wage Fairness Act "Minimum Wage Fairness Act (S. 1737; 113th Congress)"). The bill would have amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to $10.10 per hour over the course of a two-year period.( The bill was strongly supported by President Barack Obama and many of the Democratic Senators, but strongly opposed by Republicans in the Senate and House.( Later in 2014, voters in the Republican-controlled states of Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota considered ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage above the national rate of $7.25 per hour, which were successful in all four states. The results provided evidence that raising [...] In a wave of minimum wage legislative action, Seattle, Washington, was the first city to enact on June 2, 2014, a local ordinance to increase the minimum wage for all workers to $15.00 per hour,( which phased in over seven years.( This ordinance followed the referendum in SeaTac, Washington, in November 2013, which raised on a more limited scale the local minimum wage to $15.00 for transportation and hospitality workers.( Numerous other cities have followed Seattle's example since. San Francisco became the first major city in the U.S. to reach a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour on July 1, 2018.( New York City's minimum wage was $15.00 per hour by the end of 2018.( The minimum wage in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., became $15.00 per hour in 2020.( By July 1, 2021, the minimum wage in

• Minimum Wage Tracker - Economic Policy Institute

  | Illinois | Chicago | $16.60 | $16.20 to $16.60, effective 7-1-2025 | Annual indexing effective July 1 | Annual increases based on the percentage change in the CPI-U beginning July 1, 2022, capped at 2.5%, rounded to the nearest 5 cents. | Chicago amended its minimum wage ordinance in 2019. | The minimum wage listed applies to employers with 4 or more employees. The minimum wage will not increase when Chicago’s unemployment rate is greater than 8.5% for the preceding year. | $12.62 | $11.02 to 12.62, effective 7-1-2025 | 84% of regular minimum wage, effective 7-1-2026 / 92% of regular minimum wage, effective 7-1-2027 / Equal to regular minimum wage, effective 7-1-2028 | Chicago’s tipped minimum wage ordinance was amended in 2023. | Chicago’s tipped minimum wage is set at 76% of the [...] 1-1-2019; $13.00, effective 1-1-2020; annual indexing beginning 1-1-2021. Annual increases based on the July-to-July percentage change in the CPI-W, U.S. city average, rounded to nearest 5 cents, beginning 1-1-2021. | $7.50 | $6.88 to $7.50, effective 1-1-2026 | Annual indexing effective January 1 | Kansas City enacted its own minimum wage in 2015 by city ordinance.\ | The Kansas City tipped minimum wage is set at 50% of the regular state minimum wage. \The Missouri state legislature passed a law in September 2015 preempting local governments from adopting minimum wages above the state’s minimum wage. The city’s tipped minimum wage was set to be equivalent to the state tipped minimum wage policy, so the preemption of the city ordinance is irrelevant. | [...] | Illinois | Cook County | $15.00 | $14.05 to $15.00, effective 1-1-2025 | Annual indexing effective July 1 | Annual increases based on the percentage change in the CPI-U beginning July 1, 2021, capped at 2.5%, rounded to the nearest 5 cents. | Cook County enacted its own minimum wage ordinance in 2016. | The minimum wage will not increase when Cook County’s unemployment rate is greater than 8.5% for the preceding year. As of January 1, 2025, Cook County’s minimum wage is superceded by the state minimum wage. | $9.00 | $8.40 to $9.00, effective 1-1-2025 | Annual indexing effective July 1 | 2016, by county ordinance | As of January 1, 2025, Cook County’s minimum wage is superceded by the state minimum wage. |

• List of countries by minimum wage - Wikipedia

  | United States | The federal nationwide minimum wage in the United States is US$7.25 per hour. States may also set a minimum, in which case the higher of the two is controlling; some territories are exempt and have lower rates. As of January 3, 2022( effective state minimum wage rates range from US$7.25 to US$16.66 per hour, with an average of about $12.00 across all minimum wage workers as of 2019. Local government minimum wages exist as well, the highest of which reach to $17.13 per hour. | 15,080 | | 40 | 7.25 | | 26.2% | 1 Jan 2025 | | Uruguay | $U 22,268 (US$507) per month. | 6,136 | | 48 | 2.46 | | 52.8% | 2024 | | Uzbekistan | UZS 920,000 (US$71) per month. | 1,041 | | 40 | 0.5 | | 131.9% | 1 June 2022 | [...] 144. ^ a b مرسوم يتضمن رفع الأجر الأدنى المضمون بين المهن [Decree raising the Guaranteed Interprofessional Minimum Wage] (PDF) (No. 2022-187, Art. 1). 20 December 2022. 145. ^ a b مرسوم يتضمن رفع الأجر الأدنى المضمون بين المهن [Decree raising the Guaranteed Interprofessional Minimum Wage] (PDF) (No. 2022-187, Art. 2). 20 December 2022. 146. ^ "Salaire minimum: Le montant de base fixé à Rs 8 140". 8 Dec 2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019. 147. ^ KPMG in Romania (2017). "Introduction of a National Minimum Wage for the Republic of Mauritius" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on Mar 4, 2018. 148. ^ "Salario mínimo aumentará 12% en 2025". Expansion. 5 Dec 2024. Retrieved 5 Dec 2024. [...] | United Kingdom | The minimum wage in the United Kingdom is: £12.21stg (US$16.73) per hour for those aged 21+ £10.00 (US$13.7) per hour for those aged 18–20 £7.55 (US$10.34) per hour aged under 18, and those aged 19 or over who are in their first year of apprenticeship. Workers under the school leaving age (usually 16, however varies by region) are not eligible for national minimum wage, as well as certain specialised industries and job roles. | 34,790 | | 40 | 16.73 | | 74.4% | 1 Apr 2025 |

• Minimum Wage by Country 2026 - World Population Review

  A country’s minimum wage is the lowest amount of money that employers in that country are legally allowed to pay their workers for a given unit of work. Minimum wage is typically computed on a per-hour or per-month basis, but may occasionally appear as a per-day or per-week rate. Minimum wages were first utilized to address the exploitation of workers in sweatshops and then came to be seen as a way to prevent exploitation and help lower-income families everywhere. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. ## The Pros and Cons of Minimum Wage [...] | Country | Hourly Minimum Wage | --- | | Australia | $18.12 | | New Zealand | $16.42 | | United Kingdom | $15.67 | | Luxembourg | $15.43 | | Germany | $15.16 | | Belgium | $14.58 | | France | $14.05 | | Ireland | $13.96 | | Netherlands | $11.98 | | Monaco | $11.88 | | Canada | $11.60 | | Samoa | $10.93 | | San Marino | $10.93 | | South Korea | $10.09 | | Israel | $10.00 | | Japan | $8.67 | | Spain | $8.39 | | Slovenia | $8.21 | | Andorra | $8.00 | | Lithuania | $7.51 | It is worth noting that minimum wage is adjusted annually in many countries outside of the U.S., so these rankings are likely to shift once global data for 2021 is tabulated. [...] The minimum wage for non-tipped workers in the United States remains $7.25 per hour in 2020—the 17th highest in the world, but barely half that of the global leader, Australia. However, individual states have the power to increase the federal minimum wage, and 29 of them have done so. Furthermore, many states have enacted or proposed legislation to gradually increase the minimum wage by increments over the next several years to reach a specific wage. Because of efforts such as these, the minimum wage in each state varies. The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 per hour, but again, many states have enacted their own legislation to raise that minimum. ### Sources

• Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions

  | Date | Minimum Wage for Employers with 25 Employees or Less | Minimum Wage for Employers with 26 Employees or More | --- | January 1, 2017 | $10.00/hour | $10.50/hour | | January 1, 2018 | $10.50/hour | $11.00/hour | | January 1, 2019 | $11.00/hour | $12.00/hour | | January 1, 2020 | $12.00/hour | $13.00/hour | | January 1, 2021 | $13.00/hour | $14.00/hour | | January 1, 2022 | $14.00/hour | $15.00/hour | | January 1, 2023 | $15.50/hour | $15.50/hour | | January 1, 2024 | $16.00/hour | $16.00/hour | | January 1, 2025 | $16.50/hour | $16.50/hour | | January 1, 2026 | $16.90/hour | $16.90/hour | 2.How are increases to the state minimum wage be determined after the minimum wage reached $15 an hour? [...] After the state minimum wage reached $15 an hour, the rate is adjusted annually for inflation based on the national consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W). However, the minimum wage cannot be lowered, even if there is a negative CPI, and the highest raise allowed in any one year is 3.5 percent. Also, the Governor is no longer able to pause a scheduled increase, and the first adjusted increases may be accelerated if the adjusted CPI-W exceeded seven percent in that first year. 3.What is the difference between the local, state and federal minimum wage?